"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." - Michael Pollan

Mark Bittman’s views on the current state of the U.S. health culture, and the federal dietary guidelines, align closely with my own. He feels as though the, “Industry’s job is to confuse every issue, and to make sure that what we eat is profitable regardless of its value”. While I do understand that it is up to the individual to choose to live a healthy lifestyle, I agree with him that it is our undeniable right to have affordable, attainable, nutritious food. Brittman makes an excellent point when he says, “people’s rights should trump industry’s need”. Going into the future, our society should move towards healthier food choices in order to fight the level of obesity that is so prevalent in not only the world, but more specifically in the U.S..  Bittman has created 17,000 different recipes and has been writing and cooking since 1980. Based on all of the different books that he has written and recipes that he has created, Mark Bittman appears to be a very credible and reliable source. The audience that Bittman wants to target is the general public. He wants to get this message of health independence and knowledge to anyone that wants to create a healthier and better lifestyle. 

I read his post on The Opinion Pages of The New York Times. 

Labor Disputes On West Coast Ports

Al Jazeera America posted an article on February 13^th, 2015 about the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s (a dockworkers’ union which represents 20,000 workers) contract dispute with the Pacific Maritime Association. The, “dockworkers’ union and trade group have been locked in a standoff over new contract terms for months”, and 29 ports on the U.S. West Coast were closed this past Thursday to cargo ships for the second time in less than a week. Jonathan Gold, the vice president of the supply chain and customs policy for the National Retail Federation, told Al Jazeera, “[the PMA and ILWU] essentially have the economy held hostage right now”. The ports, “affected by the slowdown handle one-quarter of the U.S. international trade” ($1 trillion worth of cargo annually), and is costing the U.S. economy $2 billion dollars a day. 

For a better idea of what is going on, here are some pictures of the ports taken from a helicopter.